The dramatic loss of sea ice around Antarctica has occurred with the re-emergence of the Maud Rise polynya in the Weddell Sea – a huge hole in the sea ice nearly four times the size of Wales, which hadn’t occurred since the 1970s, the study reports.

Scientists at the Australian Antarctic Partnership Program are just beginning to understand the dire effects of extremely low sea ice in the Antarctic summer, but they will lose access to their main data set at the end of this month.